A Comprehensive Guide to the Silverwastes

Welcome to the Maguuma Wastes. This area contains many of the new maps introduced through Living World Season 2 and Heart of Thorns. These maps are the most recent additions to the map of Tyria, and are much more complex than previous maps. Both Dry Top and Silverwastes have in-depth event systems that chain together to make one a large meta-event that cycles about once every 45 minutes. This guide will cover the Silverwastes map specifically, how to execute events, and how to maximize your profit, as it is one of the best methods of farming gold currently.

I. Layout

The map above is the map layout of the Silverwastes. The map has 6 main areas, these are broken down into:

Green- Camp Resolve; the staging area for map events. This area contains all of the merchant NPCs available in the map. Unfortunately there is no bank or trading post NPC available, unless they are unlocked by players donating bandit crests to activate one for a limited period of time. This is also the first area of the map you will load into when discovering Silverwastes for the first time, and contains one of only two waypoints on the map.

Yellow- Fortress; there are four Fortresses scattered across the map that must be defended and upgraded to progress towards the Breach event later on. These maps are Red Rock Bastion in the South-East, Amber Sandfall in the South-West, Indigo Cave in the middle, and Blue Oasis in the North-West. Three of these forts are relatively similar, while Indigo Cave is much larger and can be attacked from both North and South. Under each of these forts is also a cave that opens up during the Breach, you can jump into these caves to defeat Breach bosses.

Red- The Vinewrath Event; the final event in every Silverwastes cycle. This boss consists of a three-lane attack. Each lane has a different boss which has a different method of fighting.

II. Events

Defense- Defense events are the main time consumer in Silverwastes. These events have you fight off waves of enemies at each fort. These waves increase in length and difficulty as the map gets closer to Breach. Every completed defense event will increase the progress bar towards a Breach event.

Supply Yaks-Much like World vs World, supply yaks will spawn regularly from Camp Resolve and some of the forts. These yaks are headed to another fort, and will deliver supply that is used to repair and upgrade siege. Yaks are important because they will strengthen your fort, and allow it to be able to withstand the later waves of attacks. Yaks will follow a pre-determined path to another fort, and will be periodically attacked along the way, defend the yak to get credit for escorting it.

Bandit Camp-The bandit camp is located in the Northern Silverwastes and contains a group of bandits who guard a loot chest. The entire area is covered in traps so skirting around the outside of the camp is recommended. Once the lever in the back of the camp is pulled, the Champion Bandit will become hostile. Upon defeating the champ, she will drop a key that can be used to open a special bandit chest in the camp once per day. This chest has guaranteed rare items, and is located on the mini-jumping puzzle to the right of the exit.

The Breach- Breach is the final defense mission each cycle. Once the progress bar is filled, a large hole will open in the middle of each fort. Jump down through the hole (in the middle, the edges will kill you!) and you will find a boss that corresponds with each fort. These bosses each have a specific strategy to use against them, and are listed below:

Red Rock Bastion- Mordrem Husk Copper; as with all Mordrem husks, Copper is weak to condition damage, but it is not necessary to kill him. When entering the Copper fight, be sure that you do not sit on the ledge like most people do. If Copper is pulled too far from the center of the room his health can reset and the fight will be lost. By running around in the room you effectively kite the husk offshoots and keep Copper centered so there is no chance of a reset. Many people will warn you not to kill the offshoot minions, as they provide Copper with a regeneration buff. This information is wrong. While the offshoots will provide Copper with a regen boon, it is only 133 health per second, and can be mitigated by a single player. As Copper reaches 50% health poison bubbles will spawn in the room, these bubbles will slowly make their way towards the boss, and will pop upon reaching him. These bubbles DO heal him for a significant amount of health, and if not dealt with will result in losing the fight. Once poison bubbles start to spawn, they should be killed before they reach the boss.

Amber Sandfall- Mordrem Troll Iron; this troll is probably the simplest fight of all the forts, and I recommend starting here when new to Silverwastes, as he is easy to avoid and has very slow attacks. At the beginning of the fight Iron will leap around the arena, this leap is dangerous and should be avoided. As he leaps he will gain a debuff that slows him down and will eventually stop him from moving all together. At this point Iron will become a stationary target in the middle of the room. He will periodically spawn lesser trolls to interfere with the fight, and they have a small aoe attack that will pull you. Generally these trolls will be killed by passive cleave damage, but if they are giving you trouble, they should be focused on. Iron will also periodically perform a three stage AOE attack that covers the entire room. Each stage is a progressively larger ring that must be dodged to avoid. The first ring is directly under Iron, the second is about half the diameter of the room, and the third ring will reach the rest of the room. To avoid this attack, you should dodge away from him, then away again, and then move back to the middle of the room once the AOE marker from the second attack fades. Channeled evades like Blurred Frenzy and Pistol Whip will also protect you from this attack.

Indigo Cave- Mordrem Teragriff's Gold and Silver; probably the hardest fight out of the bunch, the twin teragriffs have a completely different arena than both Copper and Iron. The boss area is a circular path around a central pillar. This path is lined with poison bubbles similar to those found in the Copper fight. Both teragriffs will run around this circle in opposite directions until they meet. Once beside each other they will perform a channeled howling attack that deals a large amount of damage to any players nearby. Ranged classes such as a Ranger or Elementalist will be safe from this attack, but will quickly kill any melee builds if not avoided. Whilst one of the teragriffs can be killed using only this phase, it is almost impossible to kill the second in this manner. To stop Gold and Silver from charging around the room, you must pop the poison bubbles scattered around the ring as they run into one. The gas cloud will stun the teragriff, holding them in place for a short period of time. The gas produced by popping bubbles does not last very long though, so popping the bubbles must be done as a teragriff is running towards it, otherwise the gas will fade. If your timing is not good on this mechanic, it is best left to other people to deal with. Popping bubbles too early will lead to failing the event. Gold and Silver are the two bosses I have seen fail most often.

Blue Oasis- Mordrem Trasher Platinum; the trasher boss is the least understood boss of the four. The boss arena, like Gold and Silver, is unique. The arena consists of four rooms of equal size. Platinum will teleport between rooms at seemingly random intervals, following a clockwise pattern. No mechanics have been confirmed as to how this boss moves, but this article from the GW2 wiki is the best estimation of how he works:
Furthermore, Platinum will use three different attacks. A fear, pull, and bouncing poison attack. All of these attacks can be dodged, and the poison bolts can be reflected, so mesmers and guardians are encouraged to attend this event, as they can mitigate most damage dealt by the boss.

Vinewrath- The Vinewrath is the stationary boss that occupies the Western side of the Silverwastes. It is a champion of the Elder Dragon Mordremoth, and is the final combat event of a Silverwastes cycle. This event will only begin once all five Breach bosses have been defeated, or the Breach timer runs out. The fight has three lanes, South, Mid, and North. Much like the Breach event, each boss has different mechanics during the fight. Before being able to fight a Vinewrath champion, each lane must defend a Pact Siege Carrier. These carriers are specialized NPC's that carry bombs to the Vinewalls blocking the path to the champion. There are three Vinewalls that must be broken, and each one takes a bomb to destroy. This means that at minimum, a lane will need to defend its carrier for three trips before they can fight a boss. During this time, Mordrem enemies will spawn and attack the carrier.

Once the final Vinewall has been broken in each lane, the players in that lane may enter the boss area and fight a champion. These are the three bosses:

South Lane- Mordrem Beekeeper; this Mordrem troll will primarily attack with insect swarms much like a regular Mordem troll. At regular intervals the Vinewrath will sweep across the arena with a laser that will kill any players not shielded from it. To protect yourself from this attack, players must collect honey from two insect swarm nodes that appear in the arena, they will then run to a honeycomb barrier and the barrier will grow. This barrier must be built before the Vinewrath attack starts, otherwise it will deteriorate during the attack and leave the players vulnerable.

Mid Lane- Modrem Mangler; this boss is a Mordrem trasher. It will continually send out a spinning attack at the entire room which will poison and damage players. This attack can be reflected, and should be reflected at all times. Not only does it deal significant damage to the boss, but it also prevents the poison bolts from hitting the pustules that spawn in the room. These pustules will explode if set off, and will result in the entire room wiping. To prevent this, not only can the poison attack be reflected, but also pustules can be destroyed, and will give the player a 25% attack speed and damage bonus for standing inside of the cloud they produce when killed. At regular intervals the Vinewrath will attack with a laser that stuns the player for a long period of time, leaving them vulnerable to other damage sources. To prevent this, the Mangler will move towards Vinewrath, and in its shadow will appear a marked triangle. Standing inside this triangle will prevent you from being stunned, and will keep you close enough to the boss that you can still attack.

North Lane- Mordrem Dark Wing; Dark Wing is a Mordrem teragriff similar to Gold and Silver. He will charge around the room at players and perform large sweeping attacks. At regular intervals Vinewrath will shock the boss arena with a pulse of damage. This pulse will instantly kill any player standing on the floor. To prevent this damage, a Triggerblossom must be broken and stood on when the attack happens. Triggerblossoms will spawn two at a time in the arena, and take some time to open, because of this, a few players should focus on opening them instead of directly damaging the boss.

At the end of the event once all Champions have been defeated, a reward chest will spawn in the center of the boss arena. Players should run to the arena to collect their reward before moving on to another event, as the Vinewalls will close again when the map resets.

Tangled Labyrinth- Another area will open in the Silverwastes after Vinewrath has been defeated, or the map fails. This area is a maze located in the central south part of the map. It contains nightmare pods and the Greater Nightmare Chest, which can be opened with a Key of Greater Nightmares, dropped from a bonus chest by defeating all five Breach bosses, or by defeating Vinewrath. Up to two keys can be earned every cycle, with extras being earned by combining 25 nightmare key fragments with a Bandit Key by opening Lesser Nightmare Pods. The Greater Chest sits in the central room of the maze, and can be found by going directly straight from the start of the labyrinth. Players should be aware of the Mordrem Lurchers that roam the maze. They cannot be harmed and will instantly kill you if they land a hit. To become immune to them for a short period of time, run over an infused light pod. This will transform you into a ball of light that can daze lurchers, and makes you invulnerable. Other invulnerability skills like Distortion, Obsidian Flesh, and Renewed Focus also work.

III. Rewards

There are many rewards available from the Silverwastes. By completing large events like Breach or Vinewrath, the player will be awarded with multiple champion loot bags. In addition to these, some events reward Bandit Skeleton Keys. These keys can be used to open Lost Bandit Chests that appear in the desert. To find a chest, a player must use a shovel on a mound of sand they find. These mounds are located by using the second skill on the shovel, which will draw a green line on the ground leading to the chest. Once located, use the first skill, this will consume the shovel, uncovering a chest. Each chest can be opened by an infinite number of players, making shovels an incredibly valuable resource, especially since they can only be obtained as random event rewards. Each chest will give the player one champ bag, and other assorted items, the full loot table can be found here.

Bandit keys are not only obtainable from events, but also can be purchased from NPCs around the map for Bandit Crests. Because of this, some players will choose to circle the map digging up chests, and ignoring events. These maps are called Chest Trains, and are a more efficient way to make money from the Silverwastes, provided you have enough keys. Each circuit of the map will yield about 35 champion bags, and takes about 15 minutes. This works out to roughly 15 gold per hour. Silverwastes maps reset every hour, running 45 minutes of events, and a 15 minute time-out period inbetween. Because of this downtime, it is possible to find another map immediately and switch to it, eliminating the wait, and increasing your farming efficiency.